In the field of vehicle safety, passive protective devices on motor vehicle test tracks, motorsport racetracks and roads are referred to all in all as protective beams, guardrails or crash barriers. A crash barrier system of the type in question serves essentially to prevent single- or multi-track vehicles from coming off the roadway or to protect regions outside the roadway from a vehicle collision.
DE 196 01 377 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a protective beam arrangement, known as SUPER-RAIL, in particular a steel protective beam arrangement for local reinforcement of standard crash barrier constructions. Here, the protective beam arrangement has a barrier rail which is supported by stanchions and which is connected to the stanchion via a deformation element and a lower longitudinal stringer. A further upper longitudinal stringer is also provided in addition to this lower longitudinal stringer and at the end sides of which there are provided supporting profiles which run downward to a ground anchoring and which are supported on the ground anchoring embedded in the ground. The deformation element is formed by a rectilinear circular tube which is arranged substantially vertically. The lateral spacing of the stanchions lies in the range between 1.3 and 2 m.
DE 195 36 915 C2, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a protective beam arrangement on a central reserve dividing two roadways with two-way traffic, which arrangement comprises sectionally assembled C-shaped profile strands which are fastened on both sides approximately in the central height region and at the upper end of posts embedded in the ground at a spacing from one another in the longitudinal direction of the central reserve, and which arrangement comprises likewise sectionally joined-together W-shaped barrier rail strands which are stiffened by means of trough-like profile pieces and are spaced in the central height region from the C-shaped profile strands by tubular buffers provided in the vertical transverse planes of the posts, wherein the C-shaped profile strands, which are arranged at the upper end of the posts and coupled with the posts by predetermined breaking connections, are connected to one another via transversely directed coupling members not connected to the posts to form an absorption strip, and sliding layers which avoid steel-on-steel friction are integrated into the connections of the C-shaped profile strands to the upper ends of the posts.
DE 10 2005 020 917 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a protective beam arrangement for roadways, in particular for use on the roadway edge, on the central reserve or for securing danger points, comprising a plurality of stanchions which are fixed to the ground and which are connected to one another by means of lower and upper longitudinal stringers extending parallel to one another, wherein deformation elements are fixed to the lower longitudinal stringer in the region of the stanchions and support a barrier rail extending parallel to the lower longitudinal stringer, and wherein the deformation elements are each formed as a rectilinear circular tube whose axis is oriented vertically.
Finally, AT 409 004 B, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a barrier device consisting of uprights anchored in the ground and of guardrails which are fastened to the uprights by deformable intermediate pieces, wherein the deformable intermediate pieces are fastened to the uprights via a screw connection which is released under the action of the impact of a vehicle.
DE 296 04 226 U1, DE 20 2007 019 215 U1, DE 10 2007 033 770 B3, DE 84 34 689 U1, DE 28 46 258 A1 and DE 19 04 538 U, all of which are incorporated by reference herein, relate to further crash barrier systems.